Originally Published in The Saratogain: Monday, January 2, 2012. Click Here To Read Online.
By SUZANNA LOURIE

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The owners of The Cupcake Lab are starting over with a new name, a new location and a new menu.

Elizabeth’s is planned for 510 Broadway, and the restaurant will focus more on dinner than baked goods.

Owners Mike and Liz Phillips closed The Cupcake Lab, originally inside the Roohan Realty building at 517 Broadway, in late October.

“We’re still going to offer a lot of what we did at the Lab, but it’s Elizabeth’s because it’s a change in location and a change in strategy,” Mike Phillips said Friday. “We’re keeping The Cupcake Lab because it’s become such a strong brand for the bakery; it’s not going anywhere, but we’re still working out the details about how it will be incorporated.”

The new place is named after Liz’s proper name and will still be considered “the home of The Cupcake Lab,” Mike Phillips said.

They will continue to take special bakery orders.

“We don’t want to confuse people with the transition,” Liz said while painting a wall at the new location. “We’re working out the details, which will probably come out next week, and we hope to be open by Feb. 1.”

“We’re going to have bar seating by the window so you can have your laptop and drink a cup of coffee or some wine and look out onto Broadway,” Mike said. “A big part is that we want to be even more community-centric than before, so we’ll also have some long community tables to encourage people to talk to other people if they want.”

The Phillips said Elizabeth’s will incorporate local produce and meat as much as possible, which will be reflected in a blackboard dinner menu of five to 10 entrees that will change. Mike called the idea “fun, cool and fresh.”

The Phillips hope to emphasize what’s special about the Saratoga Springs community, saying they wouldn’t be opening at the new site were it not for the financial contribution of a new business partner — someone the owners would not yet reveal but who, they said, will be involved in the new venture.

“That’s what got us the funding to reopen on Broadway,” Mike said. “We felt very strongly about Saratoga as we closed, even though there may have been a better business option elsewhere. People kept saying Ballston Spa was the place to be, but it wasn’t the place for us.”

The Phillips couldn’t be happier about moving into the 1,700-square-foot retail space — formerly 80 West Boutique — inside the historic Algonquin Building. The space is nearly half the size of The Cupcake Lab’s former site.

“It’s more compact and has windows on Broadway; it’s just a better location for us,” Mike said.

They hope to become a fixture in the downtown community.

“Saratoga is very important to use,” Liz said. “We feel very strongly about the community and we believe in keeping the downtown business scene thriving.”

For more information, visit thecupcakelab.com.